Athelete's with Gilmore's Groin

On the 27th of November, Mr Simon Marsh, our Surgical Director (The Gilmore's Groin and Hernia Clinic), came across the BBC's interview with Dai Greene, the Welsh 400m hurdler and how he lost 5 years of his careers due to the post operative pain he suffered, and further operations he needed after a minor hernia repair with mesh.

Here is Mr Marsh's professional opinion on the subject -

" There are two basic issues here.

Firstly, there is no doubt that a significant minority of people suffer chronic pain after having a mesh patch inserted during an operation to repair a hernia. At the Gilmore Groin and Hernia Clinic we offer a variety of techniques for hernia repair, including the anatomical suture repair with no mesh (the Shouldice type operation).

Secondly, and much more important, is that athletes don’t get true hernias, they get Gilmore’s Groin. This is a condition where the muscles and tendons in the groin get torn. Whilst it is often called a “sportsman’s hernia” there is no actual hernia present.

The correct way to repair this is with an operation that reconstructs the groin muscles anatomically, with sutures that all, eventually, dissolve (the technique is known as groin reconstruction using the Marsh modification of the Gilmore technique). This restores the normal function of the groin and allows athletes to return to their sport. There really is no place for using a mesh in these cases."